Slumber Land

When I was in primary school, 7 years old to be exact, a bloody incident between me and my classmate happened during PE class. We girls were assigned by the teacher to place broom sticks (minus the broom head, of course, just the sticks) on top of huge skittles so that they act as hurdles which we could jump over. Don't ask me why we didn't have proper hurdles, I dunno either. My school was probably dirt poor for all I know.

Anyway, one of the boys (who was the crush to half of the female population in my class, in fact) just kept bugging me and my friend doing our task. Being the hot-headed little girl I was, I picked up one of the sticks and aimed at him. I threatened that if he didn't bug off pronto, I'd make sure the stick gets glued to his temple in the vertical position. He backed off about 3 feet away and kept pushing off the sticks we had so diligently arranged on top of the skittles. The job wasn't easy cos the top of the skittles was a bit rounded so the sticks can fall off easily. With one simple swipe, the jerk just ruined the balancing act we've so slaverishly put together.

Without thinking, I launched the stick into the air like a javelin, only it went straight, not up. Everything suddenly seemed to go into slow-motion. I expected the boy to evade the attack. He crumpled to the ground just as slowly, as if in a dream. Then red fluid oozed out of his forehead and the PE teacher was at his side in a breath. My other classmates also rushed to his side. He was now just a doll lying flat in the teacher's arms, he was conscious, though. Only me and my friend stuck out like a sore thumb. Then my friend whispered to me that I was in trouble. Yeah, no need to be reminded of that.

I don't remember how the rest of the day passed. But I went back scared, even though I tried very hard to control my thoughts from running wild. Every time I heard the sound of siren, I'd think the cops were after me. The siren could had belonged to an ambulance for all I know but I didn't care. Only thing I could do was sleep.

So I slept.

I woke up later that night feeling a whole truck-load better. Next day, everything was fine again. I was surprised no one even mentioned what happened. The boy also took it extremely well. We were still friends who played together during recess. No parents came either.

On the eve of the PMR Geography exam, I crammed like mad - sucking information from the text and reference books hungrily. I hated Geo. I had like 8 or 9 more chapters to go and the exam was next morning. How I wished I had Doraemon's special bread or pen! Well, suckers get tired too so I had no choice but to retire to bed, leaving a few chapters outstanding.

I finished the exam firmly believing I would have been touched by God himself if I passed it with a C. Two months later, I picked up my PMR result slip in the school hall with 6As 1B printed on it. Holy Cow! For almost all of the subjects, I studied only the night before the actual exams.

I came to the conclusion that sleep is a life-saver.

Now, I hardly have enough sleep to save my life.